Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-01-26
MARKET OF MEXICO.
SUNDAY MORNING ON THE HIGH
WAYS LEADING TO THE CITY.

The Gathering at the Market Place.
What May he Bought There-The Eat
ing stands-Lepers and Beagsrs-va-
rious Strange Sights.
Sunday in place of being a day of rest
is the chief working day in the week in
all the markets of the republic Indeed
it is said that the beasts of burden know
when Sunday comes by the extra amount
of work required of them. Then it is the
haciendado starts his droves and brings
his various products from the distant
ranches so as to reach the Sunday market.
The scene on Sunday morning on the
highways leading into the city is enliven-
ing.
Hundreds of pack mules and burros.
loaded with hay, corn, wood, charcoal and
butchers supplies are hurried on by the
peon muleteros. There are long trains of
cumbersome, two wheeled carts fitted with
watts for pulque and others with goat skins
of pulque. The ranchero is bringing up
the rear. He is mounted on a fine horse
and carries a lassO, sword and pistol by
his side, and usually wears pair of fancy
leather pantaloOns with a couple of rows
of silver buckles on the seam from the
pockets to the shoe tops. Then along the
pathway on either side of the road we see
many Indians and inestiZos, or half
breeds, hurrying on in jog trot under
loads of fruit, vegetables, earthenware,
bullrush mats, baskets of eggs, butter,
clabber cheese and coops of chickens, etc
Others are leading haltered pigs, lambs,
goats and cows. The women are usually
shoeless and hatless, and in addition to
their burden of produce most of them
carry baby on top of the load. Whole
families plod on in this style for fifty or
seventy-five miles with load Of produce
that will not sell for more than So or 81,
most Of which they will spend for pulque
aud mescal before they leave the city, yet
they will return home after a week trip
just as happy as if they had laid up the
whole amount for old age
SIGHTS IN THE MARKETS.
The articles seen in the market will
here give as they were written down dur
ing recent Sunday morning visit. One
department is under cover and is filled
with assorted fruits, including oranges,
iNitpitSs AAihSo, piuOdHillto- pears, ptdIHtS,
plums, bananas, ounces, alligator pears,
cocoanuts and many other tropical fruits,
most of which, owing to the high market
tax and costly transportation, sell at about
New York prices. The streets and side
walks in the vicinity are lined with men,
women and children, who are seated on
the ground surrounded by their market
products, which include, beside the ordi-
nary vegetable market products, parrots,
pigeons, unweaned puppies, game chick
ems, pet lambs, haltered pigs and kids.
Then there are heaps of old iron, bird
cages, cheap calico, brass jewelry, boiled
corn, potatoes, stewed pumpkins. beans,
pepper, cooked and raw pigs feet, sheep
heads, hearts, lights and entrails. There
are also tiints and tinder for starting fires,
metal mounted stone for grinding corn,
roots, bark and medical herbs and dye
woods
Close by we see fried shrimps and grass
hoppers; each are cooked whole and eaten
SO. The latter are about the size of our
common grasshopper, but are entirely
red, but as to looks would just as soon
try to go the common hopper of the
north. Besides these the natives gather
bhN VI tllt ny bbll tIltI1
into paste and eat them with salt, chill
(pepperl and tortillas. The fly and its
eggs are each sold in the market The
former is somewhat smaller than the
house fly, while the eggs are about the
size and color of hay seed. In fact
everything is eaten here that the human
stomach will digest or anything that is
capable of being converted into soup.
A MOTLEY MIXTURE.
Passing on we see women selling flow
ers, incense, gum, cane and corn stalks,
cigarettes, cigar stumps, pulque, stale
bread, bullrush mats. second hand coml,s
and tooth brushes, Aztec images of gods,
sacred images and pictures, hot soup, ice
cream, toy collins, candy skulls, prayer
books, wax images, hairless blush poodle
dogs, cakes made for the dead, also others
made in the form of the crucifix, the
Virgin, saints and angels.
Among this motley mixture there are to
be seen babies half naked and babies COM
pletely naked running at large. In fact
numerous entire families of Mexican citi-
zens come and spend all day in the mar
ket place. This is their home and they
usually bring all their domestic animals
along. The market presents continued
babble, as every vender keeps up con-
slant cry, which he gives in Spanish
and sometimes in the Aztec or native
Indian dialect, the kind, quality and price
of all he has to sell.
Each stand has pole about eight feet
high, upon the top of which there is fiat
framework covered with bullrush mat.
This is the only protection from sun and
rain, and under such shelter we find the
hash and soup stands. In these popular
eating stands every article of food that
will not scald or burn is dished out by
hand; for other things they use large
wooden and brass spoons. While not
otherwise engaged these women are hunt
ing fleas among their poodle dogs and
puppies and combing the children's heads
for what they seldom fail to find.
Then there are scores of lepers and beg
gars sleeping and lounging about gather
ing tho vermin from their filthy rags.
Some of them are playing lame while
others are covered with sores which they
pointedly exhibit, but more often in place
of sores are layers of acquired filth Thus
with as few rags as the law will permit
and as much filth as they can live under
these beggars crowd the market place,
confront every class of visitors and expect
to be paid for the exhibition they present
There are a.:o many other phases of life
among the lowly common sights every
day, but for the sake of propriety and
decency are not spoken of-Mexieo Cor.
Detroit Free Press
Unity of Human Speech.